Need Honest Opinions
 

I was a referee for four years while I was in college. My last year, I had a good high school varsity schedule, and actually got to work a playoff game. I graduated college last summer, and took a coaching job. I miss officiating, but I love coaching. My contract is up for renewal in March, and I'm thinking about getting out of coaching and go back to refereeing. Can someone give me some pro's and cons of this decision?

I coach and ref and have for many yrs (just local rec, but my kids are getting too old). I have been officiating at Rec for a few yrs, and have recently started JV and MS games. I truly like reffing better.

As a player and coach I didn't really "know" the rules, I just thought I did.

But, they both have their pros and cons and this is an individual decison. I like going to HS games and seeing a nice young man I coached for many yrs playing at that level, understanding the game, demonstrating sportsmanship, and being a good citizen, etc. You can mold them better as a coach/adult figure, etc.

Reffing is obviously more frustrating at times, getting "talked to" by coaches, players, fans, parents, everyone who knows better........etc., but, you can also help teach the game here too - especially to other Rec officials that don't have that little bit of experience I am now gaining.

I have days when I would rather go back to just coaching. But, I had three good Rec games yesterday and know I will continue to ref long after I stop coaching my kids in a few yrs.

I coached varsity basketball for 15 years and loved it. I gave up the last coaching job I had because of the headaches to go into officiating. That was 1996 . . . Here's what I've learned.

Refereeing does not and cannot take the place of coaching for me. I love coaching and I believe I'm very good at it. I miss the interaction and the teaching aspect. I get frustrated going into schools now and seeing poorly coached players all over the place. The reward of gratification from the building process and seeing kids actually "get" it is just awesome. The longer hours and the added headaches are some of the negatives. You don't get a night off when you are coaching - or can't take one if you want one. As a ref, I show up, do my thing and go home - as a coach you show up, get the gym ready, make sure you have a table staff, get the officials in their place and make sure they are happy, make sure the visitors are taken care of, coach the game, take care of any postgame team things and many cases have to put the chairs away and the clock and straighten the locker room . . . and get little or no thanks for all the work you put in - meanwhile the refs are having a cold one down the road, or worse - having one at home watching TV.

All that being said, if I could go back to coaching tomorrow I would do it without hesitation!

Good luck in your decision.

OKRef -

I was in the same boat as you and I actually decided to strictly do the officiating thing.

Schedule - For the most part as an official, you can schedule your on and off days that you can and can't work. Being a school coach, you have practice or games every day of the week M-F and some Saturdays. There is little flexibility as a coach with your scheduling.

Pay - With the exception of a varsity head coach (and not by much), you can typically make more money officiating than coaching.

Headaches & Frustrations - As an official you are getting yelled at by fans and coaches for the hour or so that the game is going on. After that game or games, you can go home and get rid of the headaches. As a coach, you have to face those parents every day and if you have a headache, sometimes those will last for your entire season. Usually the kids are there to have fun, but the parents are a whole other story. In this day and age, if they want to get the coach fired, then they will get the coach fired. I have seen this way to much especially with girls' teams as the parents begin to make acquisitions.

It all comes down to whats in your heart. Do you want to coach or do you want to officiate. Maybe the happy medium is to officiate during the week and coach a rec league team on Saturday mornings. That way you can do both things.

I enjoy officiating more than I enjoyed coaching.

Coaching was too frustrating to me. I could only do so much and then had to sit back and watch (and agonize) and depend on others. I feel more in control of my own success or failure as an official.

I reffed MS for a year, and then started coaching. I like coaching a lot more, partly because I was HORRIBLE as a ref (although I'm sure most are their 1st year), and partly because I like the influence that a coach can have on young people, which a ref doesn't really get.

I do not think I could ever coach. Too many factors are apart of your success. As an official I have control over my success on my own (at least how I perform). I have nothing but respect for people that can coach successfully for a long time. I personally would not have the same passion for coaching as I do officiating. Ultimately, this is a person decision.

Peace

I volunteer "coach" (its more of just working with them) with the adult special olympics folks. I have a blast doing that and I would never try and make it my livelihood for a number of reasons. For one, I'd have to take a SEVERE pay cut. For another, I'd be in the educational system which is often poorly managed (by administrators) and usually frowns on creativity and doing the right thing. For another, I've simply never been interested in coaching though I've been around many sports my entire life.